Martin Deep History, Secular Theory

Historical and Scientific Studies of Religion
1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61451-500-5
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, Band 54, 376 Seiten

Reihe: Religion and ReasonISSN

Over the course of his career, Luther H. Martin has primarily produced articles rather than monographs. This approach to publication has given him the opportunity to experiment with different methodological approaches to an academic study of religion, with updates to and different interpretations of his field of historical specialization, namely Hellenistic religions, the subject of his only monograph (1987). The contents of this collected volume represent Martin's shift from comparative studies, to socio-political studies, to scientific studies of religion, and especially to the cognitive science of religion. He currently considers the latter to be the most viable approach for a scientific study of religion within the academic context of a modern research university. The twenty-five contributions collected in this volume are selected from over one hundred essays, articles, and book chapters published over a long and industrious career and are representative of Martin's work over the past two decades.

Zielgruppe

Academics; Institutes; Libraries

Autoren/Hrsg.

Martin, Luther

Martin, Luther H.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionssoziologie und -psychologie, Spiritualität, Mystik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Foreword;5
2;Acknowledgements;7
3;Introduction;13
4;1. The Academic Study of Religion: A Theological or Theoretical Undertaking?;24
5;2. The Academic Study of Religions during the Cold War: A Western Perspective;34
6;3. Secular Theory and the Academic Study of Religion;47
7;4. Of Religious Syncretism, Comparative Religion and Spiritual Quests;57
8;5. To Use “Syncretism,” or Not to Use “Syncretism”: That is the Question;66
9;6. Comparison;78
10;7. Comparativism and Sociobiological Theory;92
11;8. Akin to the Gods or Simply One to Another? Comparison with Respect to Religions in Antiquity;106
12;9. Secrecy in Hellenistic Religious Communities;119
13;10. The Anti-Individualistic Ideology of Hellenistic Culture;139
14;11. Rationalism and Relativity in History of Religions Research;161
15;12. Evolution, Cognition, and History;175
16;13. Does Religion Really Evolve? (And What Is It Anyway?);187
17;14. Religion and Cognition;194
18;15. The Promise of Cognitive Science for the Study of Early Christianity;214
19;16. Globalization, Syncretism, and Religion in Western Antiquity: Some Neurocognitive Considerations;233
20;17. What Do Rituals Do (and How Do They Do It)? Cognition and the Study of Ritual;252
21;18. The Deep History of Religious Ritual;266
22;19. Performativity, Narrative, and Cognition: “Demythologizing” the Roman Cult of Mithras;284
23;20. Cognitive Science, Ritual, and the Hellenistic Mystery Religions;310
24;21. Why Christianity Was Accepted by Romans but Not by Rome;320
25;22. Aspects of Religious Experience among the Hellenistic Mystery Religions;335
26;23. The Uses (and Abuse) of the Cognitive Sciences for the Study of Religion;348
27;24. The Future of the Past: The History of Religions and Cognitive Historiography;355
28;Author Index;370
29;Subject Index;374

Über Autor(innen)

Luther H. Martin, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.